“You know, I had a ball,” Pupatello said about her three-month-long campaign.

“If you couldn’t tell I’ve been enjoying myself, you just weren’t watching — because I loved every minute of it.”

Pupatello made the comments on the stage of the OLP convention in Toronto on Saturday night moments after it was officially announced that she had lost to rival candidate Kathleen Wynne.

The former Windsor West MPP was gracious in defeat, congratulating Wynne and noting the significance of the occasion. “Tonight, we made history,” Pupatello said

“Our final ballot had two women … Two strong women on the ballot. I want to tell you how delighted I am.”

The closing tally — 866 delegates for Pupatello, 1150 for Wynne — brought an end to a long and tense day of voting on multiple ballots.

Results of the first ballot established Pupatello and Wynne almost tied for the top spot, with Pupatello having the edge on Wynne by only two votes.

Then, despite sixth-place candidate Eric Hoskins lending his support to Wynne, Pupatello surged ahead on the second ballot — gaining the endorsement of fourth-place candidate Harinder Takhar and increasing her lead over Wynne to 67 votes.

But in a dramatic turn before the third and final ballot, candidates Charles Sousa and Gerald Kennedy both withdrew from the contest and threw their support behind Wynne, giving her the delegates necessary to beat Pupatello.

Throughout Pupatello’s concession speech, the “princess warrior” maintained her trademark positive energy, gleefully pointing out that she and Wynne “had the boys on the run.”

She praised her husband Jim Bennett for his help. “Everyone who got to meet him said that maybe he should have been the candidate,” Pupatello joked. “He was terrific.”

Pupatello also profusely thanked all of the race’s organizers, volunteers and delegates — urging them to continue their efforts for the OLP. “We need all of you,” she said.

“We’ve got to do this thing,” Pupatello continued on the subject of the party’s future. “You know what we’re about? We’re not about left or right. We’re about going forward.”

But regarding her personal future, the 50-year-old politician was not definite.

“We know we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Pupatello told the crowd. “I’m going to make my commitment right now — I hope I can do that on behalf of all of you.”

It remains unclear if Pupatello will stay in politics or return to the private sector.

In 2011, Pupatello left her long-held MPP seat in the riding of Windsor West for a career with financial firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

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